


A Twist of Fate

by LateNiteSlacker



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Demon Hunters, Demons, M/M, incubus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-03-31 20:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LateNiteSlacker/pseuds/LateNiteSlacker
Summary: The Striders are infamous demon hunters, feared by all the demons in the land.  But John Egbert knows better.  He knows that together he and Dave can defy fate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Several people requested a longer version of the fic I wrote a while ago featuring incubus!Jake/Demon-Hunter!Dirk. Everyone wanted to know what happened between John and Dave. Right now, this story is about them, but Dirk/Jake will be coming soon! 
> 
> The original story featuring Dirk/Jake can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4639233/chapters/10653737)!

Your grandma always warned you about the Striders.

From a young age, you were cautioned.  She instilled in you fear of them.  Fear of the prestigious family of demon hunters.  The Strider family lineage has brought death and ruin to so many of your kind.  It doesn’t matter if the demons are benevolent or malicious. The Striders strike without difference or hesitance.

In Derse, there isn’t a single demon who doesn’t know the family and fear them.

At least, that’s what your grandma thinks.

You are John Egbert, and you know that there is nothing to fear.  Your grandmother is Jade Harley, the queen of Derse.  You aren’t nearly as old or as powerful as her, but you can hold your own in a fight. 

You know the Striders are only human, just like any other.

You blend in perfectly with the humans.  You have long since learned to hide your demonic characteristics.  Your ears soften and round with a simple spell, hidden behind your wild black hair even if you forget your enchantment. With the help of glasses, your demonically blue eyes pale a few shades to a vibrant (but human) blue. 

Even without your tricks, your grandmother’s magical charm protects you from the human’s eyes.  As long as you wear it, no human, not even the infamous Striders, will sense that you are a demon.

Once you reached the tender but capable age of 13, you stopped worrying about her rules.  You visited the human realm whenever you pleased, day or night.  You’ve never been anything but carefree as you walk through the marketplace of the town closest to the Derse portal near your home. 

You spoke with the humans and easily befriended them.  You took residence in a friendly elderly man’s home.  You helped care for him until he passed away naturally from old age a few months later.  You almost cried when they read his will.  Though he bestowed all his money to his family, he gave his home to you.

With the help of the villagers, you fixed up the simple house.  You lived with them and worked beside them.

And now, at the very capable age of 16, you think you may have fallen in love with one of them.

Human and demon unions are extremely uncommon, but they aren’t unheard of.  You’ve heard stories of several demons that chose to mate with humans and lived very happy lives.  The final outcomes were sometimes wonderful and sometimes deadly. 

You aren’t really concerned with which outcome you happen to face.  Either way, you will live your life happily with your boyfriend, knowing that you chose to live by your own rules. 

You love him, and you know he loves you.

There’s only one small problem.

Your boyfriend is Dave Strider.

“Egbert, when are you gonna introduce me to your family?  You know it’s not serious until you meet the fam,” Dave says, lounging on the couch in your front room, his gangly limbs spread all over.  One arm is curled behind his head, and the other is clutching his chest in a very overdramatic way. 

“My family’s a bunch of weirdos.  You’re better off not knowing them,” you respond cheekily. 

“I knew you weren’t serious about me.  Don’t even care enough to introduce me to your mom and dad.  I’m gonna expire over here, forever a lonely bachelor.  Never meeting his boyfriend’s family, never getting married.  Alone forever.  You want me to die a miserable death alone?”

You laugh and press your palm firmly against Dave’s mouth. “Shut up, Dave! You know that’s not true!”

He makes an “oof” sound as you jump on top of him, smiling and eyeing him playfully.  “Even if my family doesn’t agree to give me away in marriage, I’ll never leave you.  Ok?”

Dave makes an exaggerated gesture of rolling his eyes, but eventually he nods.  Slowly, you uncover his mouth and quickly replace your lips over his.  You do it to shut him up, but you also do it because you just want to kiss him.

Kissing Dave, you’ve found, is one of your favorite things.  Your lips glide along each other’s gently, and when you feel his tongue slide along your lower lip, begging silent permission, you part your lips, allowing him deeper into your mouth. 

Your teeth are short and blunt, human sized because you’ve willed them to be.  You know you taste like apple cinnamon and yeast, from the bread and jam you ate this morning.  You don’t really have to eat, but you don’t want Dave to know that.

After all, he thinks you’re a human.

Dave Strider, the infamous demon hunter, has no idea he’s dating a demon.

You’re still not perfect at reading thoughts, but you catch glimpses every now and then.  All you see in Dave’s mind is how much he loves you.  He thinks you’re just a dorky guy who makes sweet jams and jellies.  He thinks it’s coincidence that you happen to live in this town, closest to the demonic realm.  He thinks he’s lucky he found you here, so he can continue to work and date you at the same time.

Dave thinks you don’t know about his job.  About the demons he kills at night.

You do.  And if your family knew you were dating him—in _love_ with him—they would be appalled.

There’s a reason your family can never meet your boyfriend.  Your parents passed on long ago in a tragic accident, leaving you in the care of your grandmother when you were only five.  You don’t remember much about it, or about them, actually.  You know your dad could bake a mean cake.  And your mom could never refuse a piece. 

You remember that they loved you.  Though you don’t remember much about them, you miss them.

You wish that they could meet Dave.  Surely, they would understand that what you have with Dave is true love.  That it transcends humans and demons.   Or, in this case, demon hunters and demons.

Your grandma will not understand.  Jade Harley is fearsome in her might, and stubborn in her ways.  If she knew you were dating a Strider, you’re certain she would keep you on a magical leash for at least several decades.  Long enough for Dave to die before you could see him again.

Your grandma can never know.

“What’re you thinking about, Egbert?” Dave says, tapping your forehead.  “Your head’s all scrunched up like there’s too many thoughts going on at the same time in there.”

You can’t exactly tell him all that about your family, so instead you think of something else.  “You really want to stay with me forever?” You ask him quietly, smiling shyly at him in a way that you know always gets to him.

It works like a charm.  You see the responding light flush on Dave’s cheeks.  “Yeah, I guess that’d be cool.  We’ve been dating a while already, and you seem all right.  We could get married, you could move into my place, we could have a couple kids, and live the dream. It’d be pretty sweet.”

“Eww, move in with your brother?  No thanks,” you scrunch your nose, ignoring the fact that you could never have kids.  Not that you would want them. 

Dave lives with his older brother.  “Bro,” is apparently what Dave calls him.  You’ve only seen him a few times, when you went to Dave’s house for one reason or another.  You’ve never even shared more than a passing ‘hello,’ but for some reason he sets you on edge.

Something about Bro being the most infamous demon hunter in the land.  It makes your stomach uneasy, to the point where you can’t eat your sweet jellies.

“Hey, I’ve got a sister too. She’s pretty cool,” Dave points out.

You laugh and kiss him again.  “You know I don’t swing that way, Dave.”

Dave grins at you and says, “thought I’d offer.”

Dave’s sister, Rose, is also a formidable hunter.  Luckily, she doesn’t live anywhere nearby.  She’s long moved out with her girlfriend.  The two fell off the face of the map some time ago, and you never have to deal with them.

Dave himself is nothing to sneeze at.  He’s skilled with a sword, and you know he’s taken down more than a few demons already.  You wish there was a way to make him stop, but you honestly can’t think of a way to ask him.  Not without jeopardizing your relationship. 

If Dave were to find out you’re a demon, you have no idea what would happen. 

Would Dave kill you?  Would he tell his scary older brother and make _him_ kill you? 

A bright and vivid image suddenly comes to your mind.  It’s loud and sharp in its clarity.

You see Dave, with his katana plunged through your chest. 

It feels so real, so plausible.  It terrifies you.  The thought sends shivers up your spine. 

Reflexively, you touch the charm your grandma gave you.  It’s kept you safe and hidden for years already.  You know it will keep you safe many more.  Her magic is the kind that lasts for centuries.

Dave notices and murmurs, “how come you always wear that one?  I got you a pretty cool one too.”

“I like yours!  I wear it sometimes!” You quickly stammer in response.

“I never see you wear it,” Dave says, and though you don’t see the pout on his lips, you hear it in his voice.

“I do! I just like this one too!” you insist.  Then, your expression softens.  You pull your lower lip between your teeth, eyeing Dave in that adorably vulnerable way that you know he always falls for.  Quietly, you tell him, “It was my grandmother’s.”

Dave falls for it.  You sense him feeling sorry for you.  Dave feels sorry for the grandma that he doesn’t know is very much still alive and the powerful queen of the demon kingdom. 

In his thoughts, you see Dave reaching for you, taking you in his arms. You see him cradling you, and comforting you.  You see him shushing you, and rubbing your back gently, comfortingly. 

You almost reach for him, wanting to feel his arms around you, comforting you even though you don’t need it.

In real life, Dave doesn’t move from the couch. Instead, he says, “I’ll let you off the hook this time. But if I get you any other jewelry, you’d better wear it,” he says.

Other jewelry? 

Before you can ask, he sits up, pulling you up with him.  He glances out the window, and you see that it’s almost dark.  “I’d better go.  You know how Bro gets if I’m not home before dark,” he says, using his age old excuse.

You want him to stay.  You really do.  But, just like Dave has responsibilities, you do too.  While his involve killing demons, yours involve feeding yourself.

You _are_ a growing incubus, after all. 

When Dave leaves, you kiss him sweetly and shut the door behind him.  You listen to his footsteps pick up as he hurries away.

The image comes to your mind again, of Dave with his katana.  You feel the cold hard metal plunged in your chest. You see your blood cascading down your body and down his blade, covering you both as you die by his hands.

It’s so real.  It’s almost like a terrible memory.

You shake your head.  You don’t know what this is, but it won’t happen.  What you and Dave have together is special.  He’ll never hurt you like that.  He won’t.

As you head back into your house, you convince yourself of that fact.

And yet, some small part of you can’t help wondering if this is all already woven in your fate.  Is this something that happened already?  Is this a vision of what is to come?

You have no answers, and the one person you could possibly ask, you can’t.  Your grandma would never understand.

You try to ignore it, but all night the troubling thoughts linger in your mind.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Once you’re certain you’re alone in your house, you stealthily make your way to the back room.  You open the door to the pantry where you store your extra jams and then close and lock the door behind you.  Alone in the safety of the jam closet, you take out your grandma’s charm and rub your thumb across the jewel.

Instantly, a bright blue portal to Derse springs up in front of you.  You step through and smile at the familiar surroundings.

You’re back in your room at your grandma’s castle in Derse.  She gave you more than just a charm to help you blend in.  She gave you a portable escape route to Derse, in case you ran into any Striders.

If only she knew.

You make your way through the castle, waving at all the people who still think you live here.  You’re a fantastic showman, and everyone believes that you’re in classes all day.  They think you’re learning about magic, and diplomacy, and how to rule Derse.

Only your Grandma knows you aren’t.

When you reach the throne room, where you know she will be waiting for you, you immediately know that today is going to be a little different than the rest.

Your grandmother, Jade Harley, is already standing by the door waiting for you, her arms folded.  Her green eyes peer at you in an owlish sort of way from behind her thick glasses, and you _know_ you’re in trouble.  As soon as you walk through the door, she pinches your ear and drags you off to one of the side rooms, “what have I told you, young man?” She demands.

“Ahh!!! Grandma!!!” you wail, following her with your head bent awkwardly, your ear trapped at the mercy of her fingers.  You watch as the guards in the room eye you sympathetically while you’re dragged away.

Once you get into the private drawing room that branches off her throne room, she closes the door behind you. Finally, in the quiet safety of this room, she pulls you into a hug.  She feeds you warmth and compassion, just like she has every day of your life since your parents passed away.

The incubus inside you is quickly sated, just like it is every day.  Because, even though you’re an incubus, you’ve never fed any other way.

You’re an incubus, but you’re a virgin. 

“You have a boyfriend, don’t you?” your grandma asks knowingly.

You tense in her arms.  Does she know about Dave?  You had been so careful to hide your tracks, to never let any demons see you two together. “I—”

“It’s all right,” she murmurs.  “I’ve known for quite some time that you prefer boys. Honestly, I’m not sure who you thought you were fooling saying otherwise.”

Does she know?  You aren’t sure.  You decide to stay quiet.

“Jonathan, I can tell you are embarrassed, but this is all part of life,” she sighs.  She gently pushes you by the shoulders, holding you out at arm’s length so she can face you squarely.  “You’re my baby boy, and I’ll love you and feed you no matter what.  I’ll take care of you till you’re 2,702 like me!  But I know you’re a growing incubus.  You’ll have— _urges_ soon.”

You groan, even though you feel weirdly relieved.  You’re pretty sure Jade doesn’t know about Dave.  But you’re also pretty sure she wants to give you a birds and the bees talk, and you _really_ don’t want that. “Gramma, please no!”

“Don’t you Gramma no me!” she says, looking at you sternly.  “I know you have a boyfriend because I’ve never seen you so happy in your life.  Whoever he is, he’s a very lucky man.  I hope he takes good care of you, and if he doesn’t, you can tell him he’ll face your grandmother’s wrath!”

“He kind of thinks you’re dead?” you murmur.

She looks at you with shock, “what?!”

“He’s—” You hesitate.  You don’t want to hide anything from your grandma, but you know you can’t tell her about Dave either.  You settle for something in between.  “He’s human, gramma.  He doesn’t know I’m a demon.  I made up a story about my past, and he thinks you’re dead.  He thinks that’s why I wear your charm.”

Your grandma’s eyes run through a giant rainbow spectrum of feelings.  You see tears well in her eyes as she pulls you into a tight hug.  “Oh Jonathan, my baby— not you too.”

Your mind is full of questions, none of which your grandmother bothers to answer.  The only clue she gives you is a hushed murmur, “I guess it runs in the family.”

“What?” you attempt to ask her, but she doesn’t explain any more.

When Jade pulls away, you see a grim determination in her eyes.  “I had hoped this would be a simple talk about your incubus side, but it seems it will be more complicated.”

Your expression drops again. You had thought she forgot about that birds and the bees talk.  “Gramma no!!!”

“Gramma yes!” she shouts back at you.  She draws you over to a dresser that she had always kept conspicuously locked.  She pulls a key out of her pocket and unlocks it, pulling out unusual looking charms.  “If he’s human, you can easily kill him the first time you have intercourse.”

You groan.  “Intercourse?  Gramma stoooop! This is so embarrassing!”

“I will not stop!” she insists.  She holds out an inconspicuous looking grey rock and places it in your hands.

Immediately, you feel a crippling weakness cling to your bones, and you nearly collapse to the ground.  You look with horror at the stone and rasp, “what _is_ this?!”

“This is what it feels like to be human,” she says, folding her arms and clearly holding back a smirk as you struggle to stay standing.  “This is the difference between you and your human boyfriend.  I want you to know that.  This is a lesson that if you aren’t extremely careful, you will kill him.  I’m surprised you haven’t already killed him with your kisses.”

“I haven’t taken any energy from him,” you admit.  “I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt him.”

She sighs and takes the stone away from you.  Instantly, you feel your strength return.  “You won’t hurt him if you’re careful.  Humans are fragile, but I’ve seen several demon and human unions work out fine, so long as the demon is careful.  And if you aren’t capable of being careful, I’ll make you wear this one around your neck too,” she says, holding out the grey stone menacingly.

Instantly, you back away from the stone.  “Ok, ok, I’ll be careful.  Geez.  And here I thought you were going to give me a lecture about lube and condoms.”

Jade snorts, “hardly!  You won’t catch any human illnesses, and your body is more than suited for any method of intercourse you prefer.”

You groan again.  “Do you have to keep calling it intercourse?” you ask weakly.

“Would you prefer I called it something else?” she asks.

“No,” you sigh.  “Look, I’ll be safe, ok? Can I go now?  Please?”

Your grandma eyes you, as if judging you.  She probably is.  Finally, she takes the stone and places it in a cloth satchel.  She hands it to you and says, “keep this close by.  If you feel yourself losing control, all you need to do is touch it.”

You hold the satchel out at arms length, eyeing it warily.  “Ok.  Am I free now?”

“You’re free now,” she acquiesces.  She leans forward and kisses the crown of your head.  “Please be safe, Jonathan.  I love you.”

“Love you too, Gramma,” you murmur, hugging her and then hurrying away from the throne room.

You collapse into your bed back in your Derse bedroom, eyeing the empty air where you could very easily manifest another portal back to your home in the human realm.  The realm where you could see Dave, if you wanted to.

You know that Dave must be working now.  He and Bro are probably out there, killing demons.  Killing people who could be your friends.  You don’t have many friends in Derse, but you do keep close tabs on them, making sure they don’t come anywhere near the town where you live.  If Dave were to kill any of them…

You swallow.  It’s a thought you’ve had before. 

You don’t know what you would do. 

You think instead back to your Grandma’s talk.  Uncomfortable though it was, she had a lot of good information, and she really made you wonder about your family.

Did your parents like humans too?  Did your grandma? 

You think about Dave.  About ‘intercourse.’

Instantly, your cheeks flush with embarrassment.  You’re also embarrassed that you just thought of sex like that.  Dave has never once mentioned it or suggested it.  But you wonder how long it will be before he does.

You wonder how long it will be before the “incubus instincts” your grandma mentioned start to really hit you.  You wonder if you’ll ever do something you regret to Dave.

You finger the grey stone inside the cloth, where it’s safely unable to work its magic on you.  The stone scares you a little, but you know why your grandma gave it to you.

The stone’s purpose is to protect Dave.  To protect him from you. 

You swallow and clutch the stone tighter.  No.  You won’t let it come to that. 

If it ever did, you wouldn’t need the stone.  You wouldn’t need it because—

The image suddenly comes to your mind again.  Dave’s sword, plunged in your chest.  Your blood, covering your hands and his.

Startled, you drop the stone onto the floor, listening to it hit the ground with a loud thud.  Your heart is beating wildly in your chest.  The vision feels so real.  So incredibly real.

You swallow again, shaking your head to yourself.  You won’t let it happen.

You won’t let your incubus side ever get the better of you like that.  You won’t ever provoke the demon hunter in Dave. 

Your love is special.  Together, you _will_ defy fate.


	3. Chapter 3

As you lay on your bed in Derse, you hear a telltale knock at your door.  Instantly, your face lights with a smile.  “Come in!”

The door busts open, and you don’t even have to look to know who has just walked into your room. “Good heavens, John Egbert, whatever are you doing lazing about in bed?!  You’ll waste the whole evening away!”

You grin as a familiar head of wild dark hair and vivid green eyes appears upside down from above you.  “Do you have a better idea, Jake?”

Jake English, your cousin and the crown prince of Derse, looks at you as if he’s insulted.  “A better idea?  A _better idea?!_ My word, John, you must have lost your marbles!  I have a million better ideas!”

You allow Jake to pull you out of bed.  You know you would never hear the end of it from Jake if you lounged around in bed all night.

Jake can be quite insistent.  You follow him out of the castle and off on another of his “adventures.”  This evening, he seems keen on exploring the caves to the northeast of the capital.

Though it’s all new and exciting to you, you know that Jake has seen it a million times.  At first glance, nobody would ever know, but Jake is over 1,000 years older than you.  He still carries the same enthusiasm for the world, and he takes every new encounter with the same bright eyed happiness.  But even though you are far younger than him, you’re very perceptive.

Jake English is bored.

He’s terribly bored, and he hangs out with you every night trying to recapture some of the same naïve wonder for the world that he had when he was your age, so long ago.  You’re happy to indulge him, since Jake’s adventures are always exciting.  He does know the best places to adventure, after all.

Jake brings you into the secluded inner sanctum of the caves, to a cavern that is lit solely by the glowing purple crystals Derse is known for. In these caverns, the crystals light the way, humming to a low frequency that you have come to associate with Derse.  Your grandmother had a large majority of the mountains mined for their luminescent crystals, and she used them to build the cities with a never-ending light source that exist today.

Once you’re alone deep in the cave, Jake finally turns to you.  Jake takes your hand and gives you a look that is far more serious any he has ever managed before.  “John, dear cousin, I have something to tell you.  It’s something that I need you to keep secret from our grandmother.”

“That you’re bored?” you hazard a guess.

Jake laughs.  “Terribly!  But that isn’t what I was going to say. John, you can keep a secret, right?”

You sit on one of the large glowing crystals, relaxing back as you say, “you know I can.”

“Good,” Jake says, his bright green eyes falling on you.  His expression is again far more solemn than you have ever seen. Honestly, it’s starting to throw you off.  “So can I, which is why I haven’t told anybody about your Dave.”

Instantly, your blood turns to ice. 

“Jake, you can’t—” you stammer, not sure what you’re going to say, only that you know you have to stop whatever Jake is going to do before he does it.  Your grandma can’t know about Dave.  Nobody can know about Dave.

Before you can say anything else, Jake sits beside you and swoops you up into his arms.  You feel his love in his embrace.  The depth of his care for you.  The honesty of his words.  “John, I would never tell a soul.  I can see how important he is to you.”

“Jake,” you murmur, clutching him back fearfully. “What do you want?”

“John, you have a natural innate ability that I’ve never seen in any other demon,” Jake begins.  “You integrate beautifully, _perfectly_ , with the humans.  Even with Gramma’s charm, I’ve never been able to do what you do.”

He pauses, and the tension only mounts within you.  If what Jake has to say is even bigger than you falling in love with Dave Strider, you know it must be terrible.

“I need you to take me with you to the human realm.  I need you to help me fit in, and then introduce me to him,” Jake says.

“To Dave?” you ask.

“No,” Jake shakes his head.  “To Dirk.  His brother.”

At this, you shuffle back, looking at Jake with wide eyes.  “Jake, that’s suicide.  I’ve never even met him.  Dave’s brother has killed more demons than any who came before him.  He’s a lethal killing machine! He’s—”

“I know,” Jake interrupts you, fishing into one of his pockets.  He holds out his hand.  A small light blue stone rests in the center of his palm.  “That’s why I intend to use this on him.”

“What is it?” You ask hesitantly, not certain you want to know the answer.

“I’m not completely certain,” Jake admits, scratching the back of his head with slight embarrassment.  “But Gramma mentioned it once.  I overheard her speaking to her most trusted advisers about Dirk Strider.  The situation has grown grave, and he must be stopped soon.  She said the mission would be dangerous, but using the magic in this stone might be the only way to stop Dirk.”

“Dangerous?” you repeat, your brow furrowing.  “Jake, how dangerous?”

“I don’t know,” he admits again.  “But John, you must believe me when I say I _know_ this is my calling in life.  That this is what I was born to do. This is what the last millennium of my life has been leading up to.  Dirk Strider has killed so many of our kind, and it is my duty as crown prince to stop him.”

Both of you are silent for a while.  For a few long moments, the only sound between you is the gentle humming of the luminescent crystals.

“You’re doing it because you’re bored and Dirk’s hot, aren’t you?” you finally say.

Jake’s brows lift and his eyes widen.  Then, he starts laughing, softly at first, and then so much that tears come to his eyes.  “Dearest John, you truly do know me better than any other!  So, will you help me?”

You smile softly and sadly at him.  Somehow, you know this isn’t going to end well for your cousin.  But you also know that there’s nothing you can do to stop him. “All right.  I’ll help.”


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Dave stands in the center of your living room with his arms crossed. He gives you a look that tells you he’s clearly unhappy with the situation.  “Who is this guy, and why is he here?”

“This is my cousin Jake!” you tell him, giving him a sunny smile that seems to disarm him a little bit.  “He’s going to be visiting me for a while. Be nice, Dave.”

“Delightful to meet your acquaintance, good sir!” Jake says, holding out his hand.

Dave arches an eyebrow at him.  “Your cousin?  Is he from the other side of the world or something?”

Jake freezes, glancing at you with uncertainty.  You can tell he’s worried that he isn’t fitting in well.  Truthfully, he’s less than stellar at it, but you know Jake will get better.  You have to help him.

You roll your eyes at Dave and say, “yes he’s made a long trip to be here.  So be friendly!” You get behind Dave and push his back, forcing him to step forward a couple times.

Reluctantly, Dave shakes Jake’s hand, still clearly annoyed with Jake’s presence.  “Thought it was just gonna be you and me.  You don’t see me dragging Bro along everywhere.”

“Please, don’t even,” you brush his threat off. “Bro would cramp your style so hard.”

“And Jake isn’t?” Dave counters.

“Meeting your Bro would be simply smashing!” Jake exclaims, earning himself another incredulous look from Dave. 

You don’t think you’ve ever seen Dave show so much disgust.  “Bro is—ugh no.  He’s horrible. Nobody should meet him. Ever.”

“I think—” Jake begins. 

Jake stops talking when you kick his foot.

“Dave!  Shoosh!” you laugh, pushing him over to the kitchen to distract him.  “Help me with lunch.”

“I can help!” Jake pipes in. “I’d be delighted to help!”

You take Jake by the arm and guide him towards the front room. “Jake, you just had a long journey.  Relax.  Let us handle it.”

When you return to the kitchen, Dave immediately pulls you close and presses you back against the wall by the stove.  The wind leaves your chest as he presses loving needy kisses to your lips. You press your hand against his chest, curling your fingers into his shirt and pulling him closer, so you can feel more of him, kiss him deeper.

Dave’s hands slide along the small of your back to your hips.  Your breath hitches for a moment when his hands glide down to caress your butt.  Dave usually isn’t this forward, not that you can say you mind.

You love Dave.  You love kissing him.  You love his hands on your body.

You think suddenly back to the conversation you had yesterday with your grandma.  Your incubus urges will start coming out soon.  You think of her talking about intercourse.

Instantly, you no longer feel any such urges.

You smile into Dave’s kiss and lightly press on his chest, pushing him away.  “My cousin is here,” you remind him softly. 

“Yeah he is,” Dave grumbles back, reluctantly stepping away. “Why is he here again?”

“He came to visit me!” you laugh softly at him, picking up the bread and beginning to slice it.  “Don’t be such an ass!”

“But I’m so good at it,” he complains.  Despite his grumbling, he helps you out by selecting a couple of your jellies for lunch.  You aren’t surprised to see apple cinnamon, Dave’s favorite of your jams.  He’s also selected blackberry, which you think will complement breakfast nicely.

Even though you technically don’t need to eat, you still enjoy making lunch for Dave.  You would make breakfast for him too, but he’s never up early enough. Dave usually chooses to sleep in until noon, which isn’t shocking considering he’s often up late into the night.

It’s become a routine by now.  Dave typically comes knocking at your door sometime shortly after noon, and together you make lunch.  He helps you carry your jams to the market for sale.  You and he both relax together for a couple hours, selling your jams.  Your jams typically sell well, which is all the better.  It helps you maintain the illusion of being part of the town.  It helps you buy food to make Dave for lunch and dinner, and it helps you fit in.  It gives you something to talk about and a reason to mingle with people in the market.

In the early evening, Dave will often have dinner with you, but he always leaves shortly before nightfall.  He says it’s because Bro will get upset, but you know the truth.  You know he leaves to hunt your kind.

Truthfully, it terrifies you.  Were you not so in love with him, you would be frightened by him.  But Dave still doesn’t know what you are, and you intend to keep it that way.  You won’t lose Dave for anything.  You certainly won’t lose him because you happen to be a demon.

The thoughts run through your head as you both prepare lunch.  It isn’t until the three of you sit down to eat, and Jake glances curiously at the utensils you provided, that you realize Jake may not know very much about eating human food.  You curse your lack of foresight and quickly snatch a piece of toast you prepared, taking the knife and quickly dipping it into your jar of blackberry jam.  You spread it on the toast, letting Jake watch you first, before handing the jar to him.

Jake mimics you remarkably well, spreading the jam on the toast as if he’s done it his whole life.  “So Dave,” Jake begins to talk with an inflection in his tone that you can easily tell is him trying his hardest to sound casual. “What do you do?”

“What do I do?” Dave repeats, taking a big bite of his apple jam toast.  “Dude, I’m a kid.  I run around. I get in trouble.”

“Sounds like John,” Jake says offhandedly, a bit more naturally than you expected.

You snicker quietly and admit, “Yeah, we play a lot of pranks. But come on! They’re just _asking_ for it!”

“They are,” Dave agrees.

“Have you ever pranked your Bro?” Jake asks.  There’s a serious, almost deadly hint to his voice that terrifies you.  You know where this is going to go, and you have to stop it now.

Dave has also turned white as a ghost.

“No, but Bro has pranked _Dave_ a lot,” you explain, gently petting Dave’s arm.  “It’s ok, Dave.  The puppets can’t hurt you now.”

“They’ll haunt my soul forever, John,” Dave says.  “I don’t think you understand the depths of his obsession with them.  My home isn’t safe.  Your home isn’t safe. No place is safe.”

“He’s never come here before,” you wave off Dave’s words and give him a sweet little kiss on the cheek. “You’re safe here.”

“Maybe we should try pranking _him_ instead, eh?” Jake suggests with a glint to his eye.

“Jake, you suck at pranking people,” you point out.

It’s true.  Jake does.

Jake’s about to say something, when you kick him under the table again, a little harder this time.

Somehow, Jake keeps his mouth shut.

You know it won’t last long.

It doesn’t.

“Tomorrow,” Jake says, a manic grin on his face.  “Tomorrow we will prank your Bro!”

Dave somehow turns even paler.

You know that the countdown has started.  You have less than 24 hours to convince Jake that this is a terrible idea.

You really hope you can.


	5. Chapter 5

Over time, you’ve learned a few things about Dave. 

You’ve learned that he likes sleeping in late and that he hates mornings.  He respects Bro, but he loathes him with a passion. 

Dave enjoys kissing you, but he _loves_ staring at your butt.

You catch him staring again when you bend over to harvest some sweet raspberries from the bushes.  You smirk at him and offhandedly comment, “you know, we could probably be done by now if you worked instead of stared.”

“Who says I’m staring?” he counters, hastily plucking a couple berries and dropping them into his basket.  You honestly think it takes longer when Dave helps you, but you couldn’t care less.  Having him around more than makes up for your lost time.

“I do!” you exclaim, laughing when he tries to act innocent.  “You might wear those sunglasses all the time, but I can still see what direction you’re looking.”

Caught, he sighs dejectedly, “caught by the Eggbuns, what will I do?”

“You’ll finish harvesting your share,” you tell him, trying to sound serious.  It almost works until he quietly drops his basket on the ground. 

Instantly you’re suspicious.  Your suspicion only grows as he takes your basket and places it gently on the ground.  Extremely suspicious, you barely have time to say a word before he’s on you. “Dav—!!”

In a flash, he’s tackled you to the dusty ground, making a mess of both your clothes.  You yelp, but end up laughing, unable to stay mad as he kisses you.  Your kisses turn to laughter as his fingers slide beneath your shirt, tickling your abdomen and making your skin prickle with goosebumps.

Dave’s tongue tastes like the sweet berries he’s been picking, and his platinum blonde hair smells soft like the sun.  His fingertips are gentle, unfairly so as they brush along your sides, making more goosebumps rise beneath them. 

You want to push him off, but you don’t at the same time.  Being close to Dave like this is a gift you treasure.  His warm sunny smile, that you so rarely see, graces his lips as he tickles the ever-loving fuck out of you.

There are tears in your eyes from laughter.  Dave is merciless, and you both love and hate him in this moment.

It’s at this moment, with his body pressed against yours, pushing you down into the grass beneath you, that it happens.  The light waves of desire slowly start to trickle through your body.  It’s a warm sensation that blooms at the surface of your skin when he touches you.  The feeling travels through you, pooling down lower in a wonderful way.

This is the feeling of love, you think.  This wonderful, hot, pleasurable feeling. This desperate need for Dave. 

You crave him.  You need more of Dave.  All of Dave.

You gasp lightly, knowing in this moment exactly what has happened.  It’s the thing your grandmother warned you of, not long ago.  The thing you have been waiting for your entire life.

You know without a doubt that the incubus inside you has awoken. 

It’s a desperate creature, ravenous for its first taste of your boyfriend.  It’s survived on scraps from your grandmother’s familial love for all these years, but now it’s aware that there’s more out there.  It knows there’s another, far more delicious, method of sustenance.  It’s one you will enjoy far more than a warm hug and a loving peck on the cheek from your grandmother.

Dave Strider will be the most satisfying and tastiest meal that you’ve ever had.

You pull him down into a kiss, your tongue licking along his lips, prodding inside to curl and slide along his.  Your pull at his tongue and his soul at the same time.  Dave groans and presses you down further into the dirt, his body so hot against yours.

Like pulling taffy, you pull at his soul, feeling the lovely warm sweet strands between your fingers.  His soul is vibrant and blindingly bright, hot like scalded milk, and far more delicious than any jam or jelly you have ever made.

Dave stops tasting like raspberries and begins tasting like something completely different.  Something you’ve never tasted before, but something you’re already addicted to.

Dave tastes like Dave.  Like his soul.  His beautiful soul that he wants to give all to you.

“I say, it’s quite a lovely afternoon, isn’t it?”

You hear yourself growl as Dave is plucked easily away from you by none other than your dick of a cousin, Jake.  You had conveniently forgotten that he was visiting, until now.  You glare daggers at him as he pulls a stunned looking Dave away from you and up onto his feet. 

“Jake, what the _fuck_ do you want?” You demand, your voice sounding different than it ever has before.  It’s more coarse, more primal.  It’s laced with frustration and anger that you’ve never felt towards your cousin.

Jake doesn’t appear to be surprised or bothered at all.  On the contrary, he easily pulls you to your feet and into a hug.  And in that moment, you feel a sudden bright blast of his green soul energy, hitting your chest like a cannon.  It completely fills the incubus inside you until you’re nearly sick with the overload of energy.

You’re stunned.  A second later, he releases you and you stumble backwards.  It takes a few more seconds for your head to clear to the point where you realize what just happened.

You were eating Dave’s soul.  You were killing him, and Jake stopped you.

“Jake—” you manage to say, your voice a hushed whisper.  There’s terror in your eyes as you glance from Jake over to Dave, who still looks a little bit stunned.

“I thought that might do the trick,” Jake says, winking at you. “Guess it’s a good thing I decided to visit you.  You’ve have lazed about on the ground all day!”

“Y-yeah.  Thanks, Jake,” you murmur.  You look past him to Dave, who finally appears to be coming out of it.  You walk over to him and pull him into a hug.  You want to apologize, but you know you can’t.  Dave has no idea what you are, and you can’t tell him what happened without giving yourself away.

“Jake, you’d better have a damn good reason for bothering us,” Dave says, casting an annoyed glance at your cousin.  Clearly he doesn’t know what just happened.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Jake says, turning about and facing you both.  There’s a cheeky grin on his face that has you more than suspicious.  “It’s time to pay a visit to your Bro.”


End file.
